


What Now?

by Obsessed_Fander



Series: Anxiety And The "Heroes" [3]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Backstory, Bullying, Fatherly-relationships, Fighting, Flashbacks, LGBTQA+ community-friendly, Memories, Mild Cursing, Representation, Second work today!, depictions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2020-12-21 09:56:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21073013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Obsessed_Fander/pseuds/Obsessed_Fander
Summary: Local villain finds he has adopted ten more children than planned, sources say.





	1. Explanations

“Well that was certainly more interesting than I thought it would be.” Adara said, breaking the silence that lingered over them. It wasn’t uncomfortable; they were watching a movie together to relieve some stress, but he paused it and turned to her, a curious gleam in his eyes.

“How so?” He asked, and she smiled.

“Well, for starters I almost made a grown man get into a fist-fight with a child, so that was fun.” She said, and he grinned, hiding his worry. “But the thing I was mostly talking about was finding out what your “job” really was.” She said, and though panic gripped at his heart, her smile didn’t fade. “I mean, seriously. You find the corrupt people, those who probably have killed hundreds even if indirectly, and you make sure they learn a lesson?” She said, her grin practically splitting her face in two. “And while I get how some people see you as a villain, “violence is bad” and all, you’re doing exactly what the so-called heroes  _ think  _ they’re doing.” She said, and he tilted his head slightly, a curious smile on his face.

“What do you mean?” He asked, and her smile widened, if that was even possible at this point.

“Think about it; you’re going around and defeating those who are doing evil, even if it has to be done through violent means.” She explained. He nodded, thoughtful.

“I guess you’re right. Though, not many people see it that way.” He said, and she nodded as well. A moment passed with them just thinking over what had happened, when she looked to him with a slightly mischievous grin.

“It’s cool to know you have powers now. I mean, have you ever really  _ looked  _ at your wings? They’re awesome! And you can become invisible whenever you want too!” She exclaimed, before an idea crossed her mind “Wait, how did you get to my school so fast? Did you use one of your powers? How did you make sure they didn’t follow you?” She asked rapid-fire, and he smiled, shaking his head.

“Yes, I used one of my powers. It’s kinda hard to explain, so I think” He glanced around, none of the staff knew of his job, or his powers, but none of them were around currently. It’s not that he didn’t trust them in particular, it’s just that he didn’t trust  _ anyone,  _ save for Adara, of course. “It would be easier if I just showed you.” He said, and she sprung from her seat, bouncing with excitement.

“Really?!” She exclaimed, and he nodded, grinning. He focused for a moment, and changed into a shadow, circling her for a moment before reappearing as himself behind her. “Wow! So  _ that’s  _ how you did it! And of course they couldn’t follow you, it would be impossible!” She practically shouted, and he simply nodded again.

“Yeah. Just don’t go telling everyone you know.” He said nervously.

“Of course! That would only get us  _ both  _ in trouble, I know that.” She said, a little more seriously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to point out any mistakes you see in the story! It is welcome and appreciated


	2. Healing and Solutions

~Two weeks later~

When Adara went back to school, she was feeling much more confident than she had in months. She trusted her father, especially now that she knew just how powerful he could be if needed - coupled with the fact that he seemed ready to literally die for her - and she was expecting a change. Which is what made it so devastating when she learned that the only thing that had happened was that her schedule had been changed. She was no longer with any of her friends, not even in a single class, yet all of them had Amanda in them. Every time she left a classroom she had to deal with the degrading comments, and she was followed to her next class for every period. There was no escaping it, and by the end of the day she was close to tears. As she was leaving the school she was knocked to the side by a slap across the face, and Amanda’s friends were cornering her. Some people looked on with fear and pity, but they all moved away, too afraid of ending up in her position to do anything.

“Can you  _ not  _ go flaunting your grossness everywhere?” One of them asked, which was followed by a kick.

“I can’t believe you went to the principal!” Amanda shouted, kicking her harder. She took a deep breath, she only had to wait this out a minute. Her dad was picking her up this time to make sure everything had gone okay, and he was  _ never  _ late. At least now she knew why.

“Just stop it! You should just  _ die!”  _ Another girl growled out, pressing the heel of her boot over her chest. She started pressing down, and Adara could feel her ribs bending, ready to crack at any second.

“Adara?” Virgil called worriedly, approaching the school. She wasn’t in the spot that they picked out, that she  _ always  _ was in when he picked her up, and wasn’t anywhere to be seen either. He came closer to the front doors when he noticed a group of girls, all with horrid looks on their faces as they glared at the ground. He followed their eyes, and something in him  _ snapped  _ when he saw who was laying there, fear and pain in her eyes. “Excuse me, but what the  _ fuck  _ do you think you’re doing?” He asked, his voice cold and menacing. They looked up at him in surprise, before laughing.

“Oh, did you send your daddy after us? Are you too much of a baby to stand up for yourself?” They asked, and he heard a sickening crack as the weight of one girl pressed fully onto Adara’s chest. She screamed in pain and he didn’t think, didn’t even realize what he was doing until the girl who did it was on the ground, clutching her nose tightly. He saw the slight blood on his fist and shook it off, quickly scooping Adara off the ground.

“Are you alright?” He asked panickedly, and she shook her head.

“I think they broke one of my ribs.” She cried out, barely containing sobs. His eyes hardened as he turned back to the girls, and they all stepped back. He rushed back to their car, but instead of getting in he stepped to the side, out of sight. 

“I’m going to get you healed, but this may feel weird first. Are you okay with that?” He asked, and she looked at him for a moment. Slowly, she nodded, and he changed them both into a shadow, racing all the way to a humble home on the outskirts of the city. Adara was in wonder at the feeling, all the pain had disappeared as shadow, but it certainly felt different to be suddenly 2d. He changed them back, but now he was wearing his villain outfit, and he raised a hand to knock at the door.

“Hi!” Patton said cheerfully, before freezing as he saw the sight before him. A panicked Anxiety, clutching his daughter in his arms as she cried in pain. He stepped out cautiously.

“You need to heal her.” He said, corrupting his voice. Patton looked up at him worriedly. “Oh, don’t give me that, of  _ course  _ I know who you are. Just heal her!” He shouted, and the moral hero sighed, turning to the girl and quickly healing her wounds. Anxiety sighed in relief.

“Why would you come to me, of all people, if you know who I am?” Patton asked, and he sighed again, this time in annoyance.

“Because you’re the only one of them with any sense, and also the only one who can heal people.” He said, and he turned them both invisible, spreading his wings as he took off. Patton looked at the ground in wonder as a few thousand dollars fell the ground, which he could tell was most  _ certainly  _ on purpose.

“I’m sorry I had to take you to him, but there’s no way I could trust the doctors to fix that painlessly, and then you’d still have to deal with it for weeks.” He explained, and she nodded, a sad smile on her face.

“I get it. Thank you, I know that can’t have been easy for you.” She said.

When they got home he helped her set up a pillow fort in their main living room, gave her all of her favorite foods and candy, made sure she had all of her favorite movies set up and ready to play, and he - with her permission, of course - left her to her own devices. She wasn’t hurt anymore, but she still appreciated the gesture. After all, who could say their father would do something like this after they had been bullied, with no lasting injuries? (She understood that technically there should’ve been lasting injuries, but they had all disappeared, so they weren’t an ongoing problem anymore.) Meanwhile, Virgil isolated himself, keeping to his room. He went through every network he could, every phone call, every meeting, every strongly-worded email necessary, until finally, he saw sure she would be safe. When he finally came out of his room it was almost 3 am, but he could still hear movies playing, so he went to see her.

“Hey.” She said, a small smile on her face. She paused the movie, worry in her eyes. “What’s gonna happen now?” She asked, and relief came over his face, though he still held some nervousness.

“Well those girls have a juvenile court date now, there’s no way they’ll come out innocent.” He started, and she nodded. “And I followed through on my word. Your school is currently being shut down by government officials.” She frowned, understanding but a little upset. “However” He quickly interjected, not wanting her to be upset “You will be put in a new school. It is simply ten minutes further away, but it is in a different district. I got some of your teachers brought over and made sure that you’re with at least one of your friends in all of your classes. I’m going to be picking you up from now on, unless something else pops up that I  _ have  _ to do.” He explained, and she nodded again, sighing in relief. She wouldn’t have to deal with  _ her  _ group anymore, plus all of her friends would be with her still, and the teachers she actually like were still going to be her teachers as well, which was nice. 


	3. A Discovery

~A few days pass~

Adara had her first day at the new school today, and she was excited. For once, she got to start over, meet new people, without losing the friends she already had. Most of her classes went okay, until she got to sixth period, Science. The teacher saw her and scowled, his eyes lighting up with recognition, though she didn’t know who she was. She brushed it off, and he didn’t seem to hold any bias against her as the class went on, but she didn’t really pay attention to him all that much. While she was interested in science, it wasn’t her favorite subject, and as such she didn’t notice the nametag on his desk. She saw his name on the board, Mr. Brooks, but on his desk held a nameplate that would hold her interest if she had seen it before class ended.  _ Logan Brooks,  _ a school teacher, in a different district than she had been in originally. Virgil hadn’t been too careful when assigning her new school, more focused on her old one, so he didn’t look at all her teachers. She left, bored and ready for her favorite class which came next, home and careers.

Logan quickly took his nameplate down, deciding that it was best if she didn’t know his first name. Her father had so  _ kindly  _ revealed it to her, but now he had a lead, he knew who she was. He had read off her name, and all he had to do now was look up the records. He didn’t have any classes for the next two periods either, so he got to work immediately. Public adoption records, Adara Storm, and he was on the track to discovery. He didn’t find an Adara Storm in the records, but what he  _ did  _ find was an Adara Mallory, who was adopted by a Virgil Storm at age three after a fire burned down her home and killed her parents. A cruel gleam lit up his eyes as a cold smile came across his face.

“Looks like we have a match.”

Virgil picked her up at the end of the day, and both of them were smiling. Logan watched from his classroom, and he noticed the similarities between the villain and the man who held his daughter’s hand now, though he had to admit he had never seen him so genuinely happy. They went home and she gushed about her day, about how everything there was better and that she was so happy he had moved her. She was so excited about her day that her science class didn’t even cross her mind, which was the final mistake that lead to the darkness.

Logic called up the other two heroes, telling them they needed to meet up. They discussed the new reveal of information, and Morality bit his tongue once more. He knew they wouldn’t like it if he spoke up, would probably berate him if they found out how he had interacted with him peacefully and even helped him without their knowledge. He knew he shouldn’t be digging in, shouldn’t be looking for his identity, even if he knew at least two of theirs, though knowing him he also knew Princey’s too, it just hadn’t been important to reveal that just yet. They discussed different plans, and finally he spoke up, hesitantly bringing something to light.

“He cares about his daughter.” He said quietly “Maybe we could get him to care about-” He was going to suggest that they help him grow as a person, help him learn to care about others too, but they took the first statement and ran with it.

“That’s it! We use his daughter as bait,” When Morality gave him a disapproving look the prince waved it away “We won’t hurt her, of course.” He explained “But that way we can get him to us!” He exclaimed, and Logic’s eyes lit up.

“Then we can make him reveal his identity to everyone! We use the leverage of his daughter to make sure that everyone knows who he really is, that way he can’t hide anywhere!” He said excitedly, and Morality just shook his head, resigning himself to being a part of their wretched plan.

~that weekend~

Adara had noticed her science teacher acting weirder and weirder around her, but she just played it off as him trying to hide the fact that he didn’t like her. It happened sometimes, and while she wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea, it was just something she had to deal with. It was a Saturday afternoon, her dad was out dealing with one of his businesses, which she could tell was an actual business, since he now differentiated between his job as a villain and his job as a successful businessman. It was an important distinction, and she had mentioned to him that she was planning on heading out later, she liked going to the park and surprisingly no one recognized her, in fact, not many people even knew that Virgil Storm had a daughter, which she liked. It meant she didn’t have paparazzi following her around, so she didn’t mind. She was just about to reach the park when she noticed something strange in the trees just next to the sidewalk. She went in a few paces, and saw something glowing behind one of the trees. She stepped behind it, only to immediately recognize something she hoped she’d never see.

An Illicite. It would beep twice and then send out a powerful noise, so high-pitched that humans couldn’t hear it, but strong enough to knock anyone within a ten-foot radius out cold. She stepped back, ready to scream, when she heard two beeps. Her vision grew blurry and she clutched her head in pain as she dropped to the ground, leaves covering her eyes until she saw black, her eyes falling shut. Logic smiled - he had no idea it was painful, after all - and scooped her up, taking off. Within an hour they had everything in place, just as Virgil was getting home. He went into his office, placing his papers down, when he received a video chat request from someone he didn’t know. He placed a sticker over the camera before accepting, wanting to see who it was before choosing how he appeared to them. He saw Princey, in his superhero costume, and sighed, snapping his fingers as the “prince” looked on in confusion as he saw nothing. He removed the sticker and the hero smirked. He had personally called Virgil Storm, yet Anxiety was answering. There was no denying it now.

“Hello there. We have a request for you.” He said, and Anxiety rolled his eyes.

“And what makes you think I’d be willing to do  _ you  _ a favor?” He said, and the camera shifted.

“Because we decided to be a bit more persuasive this time.” And on-screen appeared Adara, tied trapped in a room with a one-way mirror. She was standing there, frustrated and alone, and Anxiety’s eyes grew cold. “So, I suggest you reveal your real identity,  _ Virgil,  _ or she might have to skip a meal or two. Ta-ta!” He said, and ended the call. 

Adara screamed, she knew the room wasn’t soundproof. How could they do this to her? They were supposed to be  _ heroes!  _ She stormed around the room, she knew they could see her, which meant that she couldn’t call her dad. They’d just take her phone away, and she  _ couldn’t  _ let that happen. She looked at the reflective surface, showing her the empty room she stood in. An idea occurred to her, and she looked at her chest, where her ribs remained intact for one reason alone. She took a running start and smashed her body into the glass, pulling back her fist and punching it until her hand was bleeding so much that the skin was no longer visible. It  _ stung  _ and she  _ hated  _ it but she knew that at least one of them wouldn’t sit around and let her remain hurt, and suddenly the door opened, revealing a terrified Morality.

“Don’t do that! You’re hurting yourself, you’re  _ bleeding!”  _ He exclaimed, rushing forwards to heal her. She knew where the door was now, so all she had to do was escape. 

“Then don’t kidnap me and lock me up, Patton!” She exclaimed, and another realization came to her. “Imagine this: a random person who claims to be moral and fatherly, helping a teacher to kidnap one of his own students for their own good! Would you sit around and let yourself be a part of their cruel game?!” She shouted, and Logan froze, turning towards the room. He saw Morality in there, healing her, and then the wall, since his abilities could be used to repair objects as well (he found that out when Roman had broken his sword when he was younger, a precious object that he would mourn for the rest of his life, and he fixed it by accident). He left the room without another word, walking away shamefully. She glared through the one-way mirror, and with another determined look she backed herself into the corner of the room, making it seem like she was giving up. She took a deep breath, and sprinted across the room, breaking through the door and sending glass shards flying in every direction. Morality went to heal her again, but Logic held him back.

“If she’s going to purposely injure herself simply for you sympathy, then let her.” He said, and she screamed, her anger growing. 

“Let me  **out!” ** She shouted, but they set off another Illicite near her, and she screamed one final time before falling to the floor in pain. Morality healed her and they locked her in a different room, this time with a metal door and no windows anywhere, from either side, though a security camera remained so they could still watch her.

Virgil knew he had to do something. But he  _ couldn’t  _ reveal his identity. He didn’t care if he got killed because of it, but he couldn’t put Adara through that, whether it be his death due to it, or the harassment and trouble she’d go through from people knowing who her father was. He tugged at his hair, pacing back and forth. He had done everything he could to find out where they were, but they had covered their tracks extremely well. Suddenly he heard an ear-piercing sound, like he had an hour before, which he recognized this time. He had extremely great hearing, it was one of his powers, but that also meant he could hear pitches that most humans couldn’t, like dog whistles or, in this case, Illicites. He didn’t realize what it was earlier, he wasn’t paying much attention, but this time he knew. He had heard them thousands of times before, from far away, but he had simply thought it was another one going off that time. But now, there was no doubting, they were using one on Adara. He took off, heading for where he had heard it, and when he discovered the building he stopped. He was  _ furious  _ that they had used on on her, he knew they gave the person a skull-shattering amount of pain in order to knock someone out, and this was the  _ second  _ time they’d done this to her. He burst in, looking around wildly, and the heroes looked at him in surprise.

“How did you-?!” Logic began to say, but as cut off by an angry growl.

“You used an Illicite on her?  _ Twice?!”  _ Anxiety shouted, and they looked at him with confusion.

“How-?” Princey began, and Adara paced her room. They had made this one soundproof, but she knew the camera could pick up sound so it just meant that she couldn’t hear them.

“I could hear them, asshole! Don’t you know how much pain those cause?!” He exclaimed, and now Morality spoke up, worried. If they had hurt the poor child he would never forgive himself.

“What do-?” He too, was cut off.

“That’s how they knock people out! They give out a signal that they can’t hear that makes them feel so much pain they pass out!” He shouted, and Morality froze, covering his mouth with his hands in shock.  _ How could they have done that to her?  _

Adara stopped, letting out a frustrated groan. This was getting her nowhere! At least she had been healed again, but that just put her back at square one! And this time the door was clearly visible, but there was no way she was getting through it. She stomped her foot, and she felt another scream bubbling up inside her. Something felt like it was itching under her skin, clawing at her from the inside and trying to get out, and she let it. She screamed again, and this time her back seemed to scream in agony with her. Her skin tore apart in two places, but suddenly the pain stopped, and she heard the sound of cloth ripping. She glanced behind her and saw two striking blue wings behind her. They looked rather frail, but they felt strong and powerful, like they had thousands of times more strength than they appeared to. She concentrated for a moment and brought them back in, and it felt just as normal as it did with her wings out.  _ So that’s how he does it.  _

She paused, her eyes wide with realization.  _ Wait, you have to have powers to have wings.  _ Only 10% of people had powers, and only 3% of the people who have powers have wings - meaning that 0.3% of all people had wings - but you couldn’t have wings if you didn’t have powers. She felt her veins pulsing and as she raised her arm it felt natural, like it was something she should’ve been doing all along. She concentrated, pulling with all of her might through the air, until the door broke from it’s hinges and swung inwards, letting her out. She quickly pushed again, stopping it just before it could hit her, and she stepped aside before letting it fall to the floor with a loud  _ clang.  _ The argument had continued, but now they all froze as they heard the loud sound of metal hitting against the floor, and Adara rushed out of the room, her eyes ablaze. She rushes forwards, her hands twitching as she stands next to her father. Anxiety glances down at her, but he sees the two rips in the back of her shirt and understanding flashes through his eyes. They stand facing each other, three on two, and Morality finds himself less and less willing to fight by the second.

“You didn’t comply.” Princey says, his eyes wide, but triumph lurks beneath the surprise. “We told you that she might  _ starve  _ if you came to us, and you did anyways.” He said, growing more excited with each word he said “Yet you claim to care about her!” He said, more delighted by the idea of being right than realizing that he had just admitted to planning to starve an 11 year old. Anxiety’s fists clenched. They stared each other down, but a sudden horrible scraping echoed throughout the building, and the metal door came flying into view.

“I suggest you let us leave, I don’t think you guys would like being bashed over the head with a metal door.” She said with a smirk, and Princey glared.

“Of course! Now that she’s found out, your raising her into a villain.” He spat, and her eyes widened.

“What? No! I’m an eleven-year-old, we’re just naturally violent.  _ Especially  _ when we have the means to get back at those who’ve hurt us.” She explained, a dark grin spreading across her face.

“Fine, there’s no use getting into another fight right now.” Logic said, and they went to walk away. A string of fire lashed out to grab her heel and before any of them knew what was happening she was in the air, bobbing up and down slightly as her wings batted. She turned around with minor difficulty and glared.

“ _ Really?!  _ What kind of hero tries to attack a child with flames!?” She exclaimed. They left, Virgil turning her invisible and then helping her to fly back to their home.


	4. Experimentation

When they landed, he brought her to the backyard.

“Don’t worry, we’re both still invisible. Now that we know you have powers, I want to help you to train with them the best I can.” She nodded “Everyone who has powers has five of them, and then wings come as a bonus of sorts. Plus you can create energy blasts, but that’s everyone, so it doesn’t count as it’s own power most of the time. What was the first power you discovered? That tells us what your base type is. And wings always are the first, so list the power itself, not wings.” He explained, and she nodded again, thinking back.

“It was telekinesis, I was able to move the door with my mind.” She said, and a smile came across his face.

“Alright, so that means that the majority of your abilities are going to be mentally-based.” He said, and she thought.

_ Maybe this works?  _ She said in her head, trying to communicate with him telepathically. He stumbled back, his eyes wide with shock.

“Yep, that definitely works.” He said, a surprised grin on his face. She giggled. There was an itching under her skin, like she needed to move, to get out of the spot she was in. She looked around, and as she glanced up she saw something falling, about to hit her on the head.

“Whoa!” She shouted, and suddenly she was next to her dad, without having taken a single step. She rolled her eyes as she saw that it was an acorn falling, but she smiled all the same.

“Alright, looks like we’ve found our three main ones; telekinesis, telepathy, and teleportation. Now for the other two.” He said, growing slightly nervous. She looked up at him, she had no reason to be worried, but all of a sudden she felt this wave of anxiety, that wasn’t hers. She studied his expression, but there was no clue that his emotions had changed.

“Are you okay?” She asked, and he startled, looking down a her. 

“Y-yeah, why do you ask?” He said, and she bit the inside of her cheek.

“You feel worried, nervous. Is something wrong?” She stated, and his eyes widened. Shock passed through her, but again it was not her own.

“Ho-” Realization dawned on him “That’s another one! Your an empath, you can sense others emotions!” He exclaimed.

“Oh! That explains it.” She smiled “But still, why were you worried?” She asked, and he shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“Well, that’s because the final ability you discover is usually defense based in some way, and the only real way to discover that is to put you in danger, however small.” He explained, wringing his hands. She nodded, understanding.

“Alright, I’m fine with that. After all, I have two different ways to get out of it if I don’t discover a new power.” She said, and he let out a small sigh of relief. “But first, I want to know what all of your powers are.” She said, and he gave her a tired smile.

“Yeah, I suppose that’s fair.” He said, and he stretched, his wings becoming more prominent. “Well you already know I have wings, I can become invisible, and I can change into a shadow. Those actually aren’t my base-type powers though.” He said, and she smiled, growing excited.

“Ooh, what’s  _ your  _ base type?” She asked, and he gave her a fond smile.

“Well, mine is a bit less obvious. Yours is mental, so that’s a bit easier to recognize. Mine is enhancement.” He said, and she looked at him in confusion. He sighed. “See, I have enhanced hearing, it’s how I heard the Illicites, since most people can’t hear them at all, and I heard it from a mile away. Enhanced  _ healing,  _ that’s why I told you that any time they did manage to land a blow it would be gone within an hour. And enhanced strength, which makes fighting them a whole lot easier. I’m also quite a rare case. Some people born with powers get genetic mutation, giving them one more or one less power than they’re supposed to have. This gave me illusionment powers, so I can distort the reality others see.” He explained, and she nodded.

“Which one is your defense power though?” She asked, none of them stood out as obviously used for defense.

“It’s the shadow-morph. If I’m in danger I’m completely out of the way, it’s impossible to hurt me since I’m 2-dimensional. But that doesn’t stop me from being able to hurt them, it’s just much less effective than it normally would be.” He said.

“Alright, for my defense power, maybe just try throwing something at me? Like a baseball or something, so even if I don’t get out of the way I won’t be hurt too bad, but enough that it could be considered somewhat dangerous.” She explained, and he nodded, grabbing one that was still lying in their yard for some reason. Someone had probably thrown it over the fence and had been too scared to ask for it back, though he gladly would’ve if they’d asked. 

She got to the other side of the yard and he glanced at it, taking a deep breath before throwing it with all of his might.  _ Please get out of the way,  _ ** _please_ ** _ get out of the way.  _ An electric  _ crack  _ sounded throughout the yard, and he looked in shock to see what had made it. Which made him realize a second too late that the baseball was flying right back at him, and it hit him squarely in the nose. He groaned in annoyance, but looked up, where she stood with her eyes closed in a ball of electricity, crackling with energy as she remained encased, completely unharmed. She realized nothing was happening and open her eyes, looking up, only to gasp in surprise. The force-field fell and she looked up at him, before running forwards.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to-” She exclaimed, but he just waved it off.

“Enhanced healing, remember? I’ll be fine in a few minutes.” He said, and she smiled, looking at her hands as she concentrated on creating another force-field, stronger and bigger than the last one. Now that she knew her powers were, she could work on improving them as much as possible. They practiced for a little longer, and just when the sun started to set they went inside, relaxing as they ate dinner.

“What a day.” She said, and he nodded.

“I guess we’ll have to find you a new science teacher, huh? I must’ve overlooked that part when I was helping to piece together your schedule.” He said, and she nodded.

“I guess so. Can’t have someone who wants to kidnap me being my teacher and all.” She said casually, and he let out a small laugh.


	5. New Home

~A week later~  
It had not been a very good day for Mara. Her parents had found out that she liked girls instead of boys and had decided they’d had enough of her. They’d packed her things, handed her the suitcase, and thrown her out on the street like she meant nothing to them. She had been wandering around when she decided to go to the one place where she had never been, but where she knew she would be welcomed. She had never actually been to Adara’s house, but she knew the address, so it wasn’t too hard to find. Adara had been over to her house hundreds of times before, they’d been friends since kindergarten, and she knew that her dad was accepting of her when she came out, so she was hoping that she could stay, even if only just for one night. She reached the street and looked around, there were only two houses, one of them seemed to only have one room, and the other-  
The other one was a giant mansion, with the same number that she knew was the address of her friend. Her jaw dropped as she sheepishly dragged her suitcase up to the front door, ringing the doorbell. Someone she didn’t recognize opened the door and looked at her curiously, a peaceful expression on their face. They took in her appearance, soaked completely from the rain, dragging luggage behind her, and seemingly heartbroken, and their expression softened with worry. When they didn’t say anything she spoke up nervously.  
“I-I’m Mara. Is Adara here? She’s my friend.” She said, and their expression grew more serious.  
“One moment please.” They stepped inside, calling for Adara, who came running at the name. She knew that her parents weren’t the most accepting when it came to the LGBTQ+ community, and as such she feared the worst. Her fears were only confirmed at the sight of her friend.  
“Mara?” She asked, her eyes wide with worry.  
“They-they threw me out.” She said, and Adara ushered her inside, a concerned look on her face. She brought her to the main room, sitting her down on one of the couches there.  
“I’m going to get my dad, I’ll be right back.” She said, throwing one last cautious look at her friend before running off, back to the dining room where he sat, confused as he ate the rest of his dinner.  
“Is something wrong?” He asked, and she nodded hurriedly.  
“My friend just got kicked out of her house.” She said, and he turned to face her completely.  
“Do you know why?” He asked, cautious but wanting to be kind.  
“I’m pretty sure it’s because she’s gay.” She said carefully, not entirely sure but knowing that it was most likely what happened. “She didn’t say why yet, but I know her parents are pretty homophobic, and she’s a good kid, so there’s no other reason I can think of otherwise that would cause them to do such an awful thing.” She explained in a rush, and he stood curtly, nodding to her. He followed her back to the main room and there he saw a sight that nearly broke him. A young girl, no older than his daughter, drenched from the rain and completely broken. He froze, his mind no longer in the present.  
“I don’t have a girlfriend yet because I’m gay.” He said harshly, and his foster mom looked at him in horror, while her husband stared at him in disgust.  
“I think I ought to get the belt for that remark.” He growled, and Virgil ran. He fled the house, it’s not like he had any belongings there anyways, other than meaningless gifts they’d given him. The man took off his own belt and chased the boy, and just as they got outside he cracked it like a whip. Right where the boy was seconds ago now stood a shadow on the ground, fleeing faster than imaginable as they ran from the “home”. He stared in confusion as instead of hitting the child, his belt came all the way around and hit him on the cheek instead. This was the first time that he discovered his shadow ability, the second power he knew of other than his wings, but he didn’t like to think about it much.  
“H-hi there.” He said, sitting down on a couch to side of the one she sat on. Adara sat with her, and she looked to him with fear.  
“Look, I know that I can’t just barge in and expect you’ll take me in, but this is the only safe place I knew of and I would’ve gotten sick outside and I’ll leave tomorrow if you want me to I swear-” She rushed out, panicking. He raised a hand, a soft smile coming to his face.  
“There’s no need for that. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you like. It’s not like we don’t have room.” He said, his grin widening at the end. His expression changed to something more serious “Look, I know it can be awful to have your parents throw you out like that. Hell, I’ve lived it. But I hope you feel at home here.” He said, and it took everything in him not to offer to adopt her right then and there. She just lived through a traumatic experience, you can’t expect her to want to replace her parents that soon.  
“Thank you. Thank you so so much.” She said, a bright smile across her face.  
“It’s no problem.” He said, and Adara couldn’t help but wonder how anyone saw him as a villain. He adopted a young girl after tragedy struck her because of his enemies’ foolishness in battle, he took in a random child because she was thrown out, he put himself in the way of literal death for those he cared about, he made more forward motions toward getting rid of corrupt people in office, and despite him easily having the tools, ability, motivation, and time to kill his enemies that made his life difficult, he didn’t even use half of his power to get rid of them, only finishing fights that they started.  
Honestly, he was just broken. She could see it in his eyes, see it in the way he froze on the sight of Mara, almost as though he were looking in a mirror. From the bits and pieces she got from him, him comforting others in horrible positions, she was slowly piecing together his past, and she could tell it was not pretty. It was full of scars and hardships and scorn, yet he still grew into the caring man he was today. And all those years of pain, of being broken and shattered over and over again, that’s what Anxiety was. That’s who the “villain” really was. The anger at the world, the injustice, the horribleness he had endured, that is what Anxiety became. An alter ego, where he couldn’t be punished for finally getting back at the world that had hurt him. Not the innocent people who had done him no wrong, not the people that weren’t hurting anyone, but those who were seeing the horrible state of the world and taking advantage of it, so they could make it even worse.  
“I just- I feel betrayed. They’re my parents, they made me, how could they throw me out like I was- like I’m nothing?” She asked, and his gaze hardened slightly, but he still remained kind to her.  
“I don’t want to be rude, because I know you care about them, but” He let out a deep breath “Bloodlines don’t mean shit.” He said, and Adara looked at him in surprise. He rarely cursed in front of her, and to do so in front of someone he barely knew was unprecedented.  
“But- blood is thicker than water!” She exclaimed, her eyes wide in shock. It was what she had been taught after all, that no matter how horrible, your biological family was who you owed your life to.  
“No, you’re wrong. The original phrase was “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb”, meaning that those we call family due to our bonds are more important than those who we happen to be related to.” He explained, and she listened curiously. If her parents could be wrong about that, something so vital that they had her repeat it every night before she went to bed, then could they be wrong about other things? Could they even be- be wrong about her? Oddly enough, she found comfort in the statement, and she gave him a small smile. Adara showed her one of the rooms she could stay in and she immediately started setting up her stuff, feeling more at home than she ever had in her own house.


	6. Found

~A few days pass~

Adara was doing well in her training, she had even managed to create a few of her own energy blasts, as well as moved the water around. She mimicked water-bending, and Virgil was happy to see she could relate her own uniqueness to something she was inspired by. Hell knows he hadn’t had that when  _ he  _ was younger. Mara was growing more comfortable in the home, and Adara had, with her father’s permission, told her about her own powers, though not Virgil’s, and certainly not that he was Anxiety. She was begging to be able to see her friend train, and finally Adara caved and asked. He looked between the two of them, both of them putting on their best puppy-dog eyes, and he sighed, smiling tiredly as he agreed. They still hadn’t told Mara that he had powers as well, and he was just going to let her find out on her own. After all, they were practicing in five minutes anyways, so by the time she thought to question how he could train her, they were already about to start. 

“Alright, let’s start with the basics of yours, since Mara wants to see everything.” He said, smirking slightly. She grinned, focusing on an apple nearby, most likely fallen from one of the fruit trees they had growing. She raised her hands slightly, though the show was a bit more dramatic than necessary, and raised it into the air.

“Here, catch!” She said happily bringing it over to Mara. She reached her hands out tentatively, her hands clasping around it as it was dropped into her grip.  _ Is this an okay volume?  _ She asked, trying to regulate her voice. She had never really thought about controlling the voice in her head, so now that she was talking to others with it she was becoming more conscious of it.

“Whoa- yeah, that’s good.” She said, and Virgil grinned. She focused on the energy around her and created a force-field big enough to contain all three of them, despite her and Virgil being ten feet apart, with Mara in the middle and to the side a bit. “That’s awesome!” Mara exclaimed, looking at her friend in awe. She smiled before concentrating again, appearing right in front of her, which caused Mara to stumble back in shock. Virgil smiled fondly, and he stepped forwards, bringing them all into a smaller group.

“Alright, now how’s you’re empathy? Since we can’t provide any real proof of that.” He said casually, and she looked up in thought for a moment.

“It’s getting better. I can now distinguish someone else’s emotions and who it came from, rather than just having feelings and knowing that they aren’t mine.” She said excitedly, and he nodded. He touched both of them lightly on their shoulders, giving off the illusion of a simple gesture while in actuality he was making all three of them invisible, just for good measure. “Good, you’re definitely improving. So now” He didn’t finish his sentence, but he didn’t need to, as she spread her wings. 

They had had special shirts tailored for her with two velcro slits on the back so that she could bring out her wings without damaging more of her clothes, and he already had a few of his own, so when she took to the sky he remained on the ground. He wanted to keep the secret for as long as possible, and he trusted her now that she had spent almost two weeks training. She took to the sky, getting just over the treetops when she looked down and realized he wasn’t joining her right away. Her eyes flitted to her friend and an understanding smile flashed across her face, before she rose up to the top of the house and did a flip, cheering. She went to do another one, but accidentally looked down in the middle of it, and her heart skipped a beat, her stomach doing it’s own flip. She stuttered mid-flight and fell a few feet ungracefully. Fortunately she could save herself easily, but unfortunately the fall had made her confidence do a dive-bomb, and she was beginning to plummet back towards the ground. 

Virgil only allowed himself a second of panic before he took to the air, a loud  _ whoosh  _ echoing behind him as he rose up and caught her in less than a second, gently bringing her down to the ground. Once he was absolutely sure she was alright he gave her a gentle smile, worry still in his eyes despite the relief.

“That’s your reminder not to push yourself past your limits just to show off to your friends.” He said kindly, and she laughed.

“Okay, I get it.” She said, and he put her down. They continued the rest of training with Mara watching enthusiastically, and each of them felt a little more like a family. 

And so he had two children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know when I'll be updating next, but I'm working on this a bit every day, so it shouldn't be too long


	7. Another One?

A day or two passed with them just enjoying their life together, and Mara had told some of their friends at school where she was staying after they asked how she was still attending school, and another friend in their group decided to come out. Everyone in the group was in the LGBTQA+ community, but almost none of them had come out to their parents yet, and the majority (though thankfully not all) of them had at least somewhat homophobic parents. She was telling her parents that she thought she was ace, and they scoffed it off, telling her that she was just too young to know. It started an argument on whether or not she could know her own identity, and at the end they decided they’d had enough and threw her out as well. She was afraid, but she decided to test her luck, going to the place where she knew two of her friends had been accepted despite their doubts. Mara was the one to open the door, and understanding dawned in her eyes.

“You too, huh?” She asked, and Lillith just nodded. She brought her in sitting, sitting her friend down just like she had that first night. “Sit tight, I’ll go get them.” She said, and took off.

“I wonder who it is. We rarely have visitors.” Virgil said thoughtfully, and Adara just shrugged.

“It’s Lil, she’s been cast out too.” Mara said, skidding to a stop in front of them. She caught her breath as they shared a glance before rushing to the main room. 

“H-hi there?” She said nervously, and Virgil gave her a warm smile. “I’m Lillith. My-” She took a deep breath “My parents threw me out because I’m “too young to know” that I’m ace, and I knew that you were accepting to both of them so I thought that- that since this is the only safe place I know of-” She broke off, choking back tears, and Virgil felt himself being thrown back even further into his past.

_ “I’m just saying that people who have done awful things in the past shouldn’t be regarded as heroes!” He shouted, and his father looked at him in disgust. _

_ “You’re being lied to! You don’t know jack shit!” His father screamed, and his mother shook her head in disappointment.  _ **Oh, I know I’m being lied to, just not by the people you think. **

_ “You’re way too young to know! You can’t think that your opinions are correct, they  _ _ can’t _ _ be since you’re only five! You’re just an idiot!” She shouted, and he ran. His parents, the only people he had ever known, thought him too young and naive to have valid opinions, and his eyes grew dark. They yelled after him but wings sprouted from his back and he took to the air, becoming invisible without realizing it as he fled. His parents didn’t bother to chase him.  _

He remembered as clearly as if it were the day before. He was put into foster care afterwards, and when the police asked for his name he wouldn’t give it to them. They asked for his last name and he gave them a different one, so that his real family could never be found. He told them that he was V. Storm, and they believed him. He erased his original last name from his mind, he had repressed it to the point that even if he wanted to remember it now, he couldn’t. All he knew was that it meant caring, and he had seen the hypocrisy, seen the cruel irony of it and decided that he didn’t want it. He  _ wasn’t  _ going to be part of that family that spread false security and care. They never found his parents, and he couldn’t have been more satisfied. 

“I know it’s hard, I know that you think your parents are the safest people in the world, and when you’re shown that they aren’t it can break you. But please, stay as long as you’d like. You are always welcome here, whether you decided to stay or not.” He told her gently, and she managed to muster a smile, wiping the tears from her eyes. Mara and Adara helped her choose her room while Virgil went to tell the kitchen staff that there would be one more eating tonight, and the same would possibly apply to the foreseeable future. They simply smiled, happy to have someone else to cook for, and he left them another tip simply for putting up with the sudden changes. 

Dinnertime was different now. There were serious topics, jokes, and all sorts of conversations going around. There were differing opinions, but all of the girls were already familiar with each other, so no fights broke out, and Virgil found himself smiling more than he had in a while. It was just  _ easy  _ to talk to them, and he saw himself in each of them a little more with every offhand comment, every snarky remark, every laugh at an overly-simply or too-complicated joke. And he knew how weird he would be seen, claiming that he related more to these few pre-teen girls than the majority of people he’d met in his lifetime, but sometimes that’s what family meant. Sometimes family meant a super-villain, an empowered young girl, and two random children that had found refuge in an unlikely place. And each of them knew that they wouldn’t trade it for the world, no matter how weird other people might find it. 

That wasn’t the last of cast-outs though. In fact, there might  _ never  _ be an end to those who go through pain and suffering due to their miserably unfit parents, but the main point was that there was another child who was no longer in the safety of their own home, though this case was slightly different. His parents had called him a girl for all his life, and when he finally told them that that  _ wasn’t  _ who he was, when he told them his chosen name, they freaked out. They tried to move past it, act like he never said it or that it was all just a phase, but he couldn’t deal with it. He knew there were  _ thousands  _ of people that weren’t lucky enough to have a place to run to, who weren’t able to escape their homes until they were 18 or older, but he knew that his friends were there, waiting with open arms for anyone else who was cast out. At first he thought it was just a cool parent, then he saw someone else get taken in and thought that they were okay with helping someone out when the chance came to them, but then another out of their friend-group fled to their home and was still living there, so he decided to make the best out of his situation, even if he knew not many others could.

He packed his belongings, he knew it was a wise decision to buy his own suitcase a few years before, and he got rid of anything that made him uncomfortable. He left it in a pile on his bed, so that everything his parents  _ wanted  _ to see in him was left behind, there as a reminder as to how they lost their child. He waited until the dead of night and then he climbed out his second-story window, a jacket on and his wallet in his pocket as he left the house that had held him prisoner, trapped in a category that he didn’t fit in. He had his doubts, after all, the others had been thrown out, so what if he was taken back to his awful parents since they still wanted him there, just as a different person? But he quieted his mind, walking for a little over an hour to the school. He had been past Adara’s house once on a field trip, so he knew how to get there, but only from the school. From there it was only around 20 minutes, since he was walking and dragging luggage behind him. 

When he made it to the house he grinned incredulously, shaking his head as he walked up to the front door. He wasn’t surprised since he had seen it before, but it didn’t make it any less astonishing. After all, who would’ve guessed that the caring, fiery yet timid girl that not many knew, the kid who sat in the back and rarely got called on, yet had strong opinions when it did happen, the child who knew more than any other kid that they were no more important than anyone else, would be richer than anyone in their city, in their  _ state  _ even? After all, once you figured out who her father was - Virgil Storm was a well renowned trillionaire, the current richest person in the world - yet his daughter was humbler than the children of the majority of the upper class, so who would think of her as someone richer than all of them and their parents combined? He shook the thoughts away, knocking on the door. Footsteps echoed throughout the dark house, and a single light glowed through the window before the door opened a crack.

“Yes?” Adara asked, peering cautiously out. She knew that she shouldn’t be opening the door to strangers in the middle of the night, but she couldn’t leave someone standing alone out there. At least the chain was latched, so they couldn’t get in without her purposefully letting them.

“Adara, is that you?” He asked, and she stared curiously “It’s me, Liam. I came out to my parents and they reacted badly, so I kinda... ran away.” He explained, growing more nervous the longer he thought about it. The door shut and his eyes widening in surprise, before it opened fully as she flipped a switch, the lights coming on to reveal a spacious room, with a few couches and a Tv, though it didn’t appear to be the living room as it seemed somewhat barely used. They sat down and she glanced around nervously.

“You’re the third person to sit in this exact spot you know. They both got thrown out though, you’re the first runaway.” She let out a nervous laugh. “Don’t worry, I’m sure my dad won’t make you go back, he’s had his rough share of bad parents in his life. I’m not sure if he’s awake but-”

“Adara? What are you doing up?” A voice asked, concern clear despite the face being obscured by darkness. “Is something wrong?” It asked worriedly, and Liam stared, trying to discern any amount of detail through the shadows that seemed to be cloaking them. Adara could see him just fine, but upon seeing the look on her friend’s face she gave a pointed look to her father. He glanced at himself and realized he was absent-mindedly using distorting how he looked, so that he wasn’t visible, but Adara seemed to see him just fine. So who was being blocked-?

“Hi there. Sorry to intrude.” Liam said the second that the man was visible to him. “I understand that you’re probably reaching your limit with kids at this point, but I kinda ran away from home because my parents wouldn’t accept the fact that I’m actually a boy instead of a girl, so...” He trailed off and Virgil just sighed, a smile coming to his face.

“Trust me, I know how that feels.” He sat down. “I ran away from home when I was five, got put into foster care, which just led to me getting either thrown out or running away from every home I was put in. If you need a safe place, then you can stay for as long as you’d like, or leave the second you want to. It’s up to you.” He said, and he found himself surprised at his own words. He was  _ never  _ this open about his past, at least not unless he was asked, but the only person he’d trust was Adara for the longest time. He knew he was a villain, that he was probably the most hated person of all time, but still, he felt his cold demeanor warming a little more with each child that found a home in his house.

“Thank you. And I’m sorry for coming so late in the night.” He said with a smile, but Virgil just waved it off.

“No worries. So long as it was safe for you, it’s completely fine with me.” He said, and Adara once again helped the newest child find a room. He wasn’t exactly planning on having four children, but he knew that if anyone else showed up on his door he wouldn’t hesitate to allow them in. Maybe soon they’d even feel comfortable enough for him to legally adopt them, at least so they’d have a legal guardian that they could be given to without causing problems.


	8. Finally

~A few months pass~

They had all learned of his powers, and now they were just getting ready for Halloween. Mara was trying on costumes, and found some fake wings that she put on and displayed proudly. The white feathers were a stark contrast against her dark skin, and as she came out of the dressing room a thought occurred to her, making her face fall as she thought about her costume choice a little more. She looked to Virgil, a worried look on her face.

“Is it offensive to wear fake wings, since they’re a real thing?” She asked, and he shook his head, a proud smile on his face.

“Not really, since they’re seen as something to be admired, wearing them as a costume that represents something you wish you had isn’t really going to make anyone upset, though if someone is upset by it it’s always best to respect that. However, doing the same thing to cultures or real types of people  _ is  _ offensive, since someone’s lifestyle is not some costume just for you to try on.” He explained, and she nodded, relief washing over her. “I am proud of you for asking though, it’s always good to be aware of whether or not your crossing a line when it comes to these types of things.” He said, and she smiled at him, going back into the changing room to put her own clothes on.

“I think I’ve decided then.” She said, picking up the bag for the costume “I’m going to be an angel for Halloween!” She said happily, and he just smiled, looking to the others.

“I’m going to be a vampire!” Adara said, holding up her own costume. 

“I think I’ll be a doctor. It’s what I want to be when I’m older.” Lillith said timidly, a shy smile on her face. They all turned to Liam, and he held up his costume, a proud smile coming to his face.

“I’m going to be Anxiety!” He said, and both Adara and Virgil froze, for different reasons. Virgil was  _ fine  _ with whatever view any of them had towards his other persona, he was alright with them disliking, even hating Anxiety. But to see himself, thrown about as a costume, mocked as something that was lumped in with horror movie villains, it was like a physical blow to him. Adara was stricken with horror, how could someone view her  _ dad  _ as something terrible enough to be flaunted off as the scariest costume there was?

“How come?” She asked carefully, and Liam remained oblivious to their discomfort at the notion, simply because he was too wrapped up in his own mixed views of the supposed villain.

“Well I sort of view him as a hero. Honestly, my feelings on him are a little hard to pin down, since he obviously is kind of a morally grey character, but he doesn’t hurt innocent civilians, which is  _ more  _ than we can say for the so-called “heroes” that battle him.” He said, sending a pointed yet understanding look to Adara. They all knew how Princey had essentially destroyed her life when she was younger, and none of them were too pleased about it. 

“Yeah, I agree. I mean, sure, he may use a little more violent means than most would, and everyone would probably call us crazy if they heard us saying this, but he’s doing what many people wish would happen. And the heroes aren’t much better, trying to beat him up to stop him, when that’s the very thing they reprimand him for.” Lillith said, a smile on her face as she found her friends supporting her somewhat outlandish opinions. 

“Yeah! I mean, just look at Tumblr for a start. They spread lists of the top most corrupt people, those who are destroying the world, going “Oh it would be a  _ shame  _ if someone were to kill these people and make the world better”. If it’s the only way to fix this broken world, then at least  _ someone’s  _ doing something about it.” Mara piped in, and Virgil looked around with tears in his eyes. None of them knew who he was, none of them even knew of half the things he’d done  _ while in costume  _ similar to how he acted around them, but still they were defending him with valid points rather than simply going “He’s a cool villain, so I like him.” And they brought up valid arguments as to why he was a little overboard sometimes, as to why his method wasn’t exactly the  _ best,  _ which he could admit, but they still supported him. He had never so much acceptance for himself, whether it be for Anxiety or simply for Virgil, and he very nearly broke down in front of them. Adara looked up, a worried look on her face as she sensed the emotional breakdown coming, but he just gave her a tearful smile.

“I think I’ll be a spider. After all, it  _ is  _ my aesthetic.” He said, and they all grinned.

Meanwhile, the heroes were meeting together, discussing the different ways to thwart the next plan Anxiety had. Morality was biting his lip, as usual, holding back his thoughts from the other two as they discussed their increasingly wild plans to keep him from spreading his wrath to those who were undeserving of it. The longer it drew on, the more they discussed potentially taking out Virgil himself, the harder he found it to remain quiet as their plans started taking a dark turn. He fidgeted and squirmed as Roman paced, chewed nervously on his nails and lips as Logan drew more plans on a whiteboard.

“I’m just saying, if he eliminate the threat while he’s not expecting it, then there’s no chance for him to bring something worse to the table next time!” Logic exclaimed, and the thought terrified Morality. He alone knew that recently three children had been unofficially adopted by the man, and to leave those who already had lost a home completely alone and without anyone to take care of them, the thought broke his heart.

“Yeah, but have you even  _ heard  _ his name? He’s  _ Anxiety,  _ he’s  _ always  _ expecting to be attacked.” Princey pointed out, and Logic frowned, biting the cap of the pen he had. Neither of them bothered pointing out that the pen was useless, since it was a whiteboard he was staring at, because they’d heard his speech thousands of times.

“Hmm. Well, what if we set someone up. Make it seem like someone he’s doing business with is about to try something, then use that moment as a distraction to swoop in and deliver a final blow, in some way or another.” He said, deep in thought, and Morality had had enough.

“ _ No!”  _ He shouted, standing up, and the other two turned to him angrily.

“Morality, we have told you time and time again that your opinions on these matters are rarely mature enough to actually consider.” Logic said coldly. Morality’s nose twitched up into an ugly glare as Princey tried to back his colleague’s argument, but he fell silent at the look. Morality  _ never  _ showed anything but kindness in his expressions, so to see him so terrifyingly  _ furious  _ was undoubtedly keeping them silent out of sheer terror.

“We are  _ not  _ killing someone with a  _ child  _ to look after simply because we don’t like their way of doing things! I don’t care how horribly they get things done, they end up  _ helping anyways!  _ And then what do we do? We claim that we don’t agree with using violence to solve conflicts like those, and we show it by  _ attacking them!”  _ He shouted, his mask threatening to fall off his face by how much the muscles were twitching. “He’s getting rid of  _ way worse  _ people, and he never fully kills them! It’s not like he’s a murderer, these people fully have the means to help themselves, but then they’d have to admit they were bested and they’re  _ never  _ willing to put themselves into that much of an embarrassing situation, and  _ that’s  _ what kills them! He’s doing more than we do to stop the world from being a horrible place!” He continued, and Princey finally found his voice.

“How are you defending him?!” He exclaimed, but he quickly fell silent as Morality’s rage was turned on him.

“We know who he is out of the costume now two, and what’s his reputation? The world’s nicest, least corrupt upperclassmen, who  _ never  _ abuses his power for means that will harm others! I can’t even say the same about either of  _ you!  _ You are abusing your powers, your knowledge, your leverage, to try and  _ kill  _ someone! You  _ kidnapped  _ and  _ hurt  _ an 11 year old simply to gain some invisible advantage over someone who never did anything to personally affront you!” He exclaimed, and sparks flickered across his fingertips.

“Please, you are being ridiculous.” Logic said, and Morality whipped to face him, electricity crackling around him. He glared at the supposed rational one and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he drew his powers back into himself. There was no point in accidentally hurting one of them when he tried to make them see reason.

“Fine. If you won’t listen to me, then I am  _ done  _ being silent. It’s kind of surprising to see I’m the only one sticking to my namesake.” When they gave him looks of confusion he elaborated. “Well you are hardly being logical, and you are acting very unregally. Yet I still have some of my morals left intact despite your influence.” He gave them one last look before stepping over to the broken window, the pane removed as they waited for a replacement. He shook his head and stepped outside, letting himself fall despite the window being on the 23rd story. He stopped falling around the 10th, but no wings guided him to the air. He soared higher, floating until he was above the clouds as he spiralled around. It was considered one of the purest powers you could have, the ability of flight without wings. It was even rarer than having a sixth power, rarer than having wings and a sixth power and knowing at only three years old. 

It felt great to finally use it again. He rarely got to fly like this when he was with them. Hell, he hardly got to use  _ any  _ of his powers when he was working with them. It had started off as an innocent group, wanting to stop the crimes that ran around, the three friends had wanted to use their powers to help the innocent people who couldn’t do much for themselves. But then they started focusing less on the everyday crimes, and more on the current villain of the world as he grew more and more prominent, and soon that became their only task, though they failed time and time again. He saw his friends slowly losing sight of what had been their original goal, and the more he pressed for them to continue with their first mission, to help those in need, the more they told him to shut up. The more they told him that his opinions weren’t valid, that he should just rest his voice, that he was too naive to contribute anything worth their attention. And the more they said it, the more he believed it. But he was finally free of them - and god, if that wasn’t a weird notion - and he didn’t have to bite his tongue every time he had a thought, every time he thought of a different way to approach things. He was going to do what they had planned from the beginning, and he was going to make the world a better place bit by bit.

“What just happened?” Logic asked, and Princey simply stared out the window, his mind filled with a thousand words he didn’t say.

They had just lost their best friend. The person who had picked them up whenever they were down, who had told them that they’re emotions were never stupid or wrong or invalid. The person who had been there when no one else was, who had seen them at their best, and at their worst. The person who they abandoned, who they pushed away, who they told was wrong for feeling sad. Who they forced to push down his own emotions, who they trained to hold his thoughts back, who they taught that his silence was what made them work the best as a team. He had left, to do what was  _ right,  _ to be with those who would actually do the  _ right  _ thing, and it  ** _wasn’t them. _ ** The people with the best sense of morals, who wanted to do right no matter what, to use their advantages to make the world a better place weren’t them, the supposed heroes. In fact, the only person that really fit that description was Patton, and now he was alone. Just like they had found him, crying and alone but immediately ready to wipe away his own tears to help them, even as a child. 

Roman looked away, his pride in shambles. Logan tugged at his hair, his emotions breaking over him, showing clear on his face. They both broke, in different was, and their masks fell to the ground as both of them sank to the floor. Roman glared through the tears that fell and burned his mask, until nothing remained but a charred black dust. Logan looked to his and used an energy blast, he didn’t feel like reminding himself of any other powers he’s abused as he pushed his friend away. They had a lot of work to do if they ever wanted to make it up to him, but they couldn’t just go crawling back to him seconds after he left. After all, who would believe that they went through self-realization, that they finally noticed the error of their ways and were genuinely trying to fix it, after only a few minutes?


	9. Revelation

Halloween came, and all of them had a blast going from house to house, happily gathering candy as they made their way around the neighborhood. They made sure to avoid the houses that they had come from, and Virgil brought along a wagon so that if any of them got tired they could sit in it and ride along. Since they all knew of his enhanced strength they weren’t worried about tiring him out, and he was just happy to be there with him. As the night was drawing to an end they started to make their way back, going down one final street that they hadn’t been on yet that led back to their house. Just as they were nearing the end Virgil stopped, his eyes out of focus as he concentrated on something that none of them noticed. Adara could feel the worry radiating off of him even without her empathy, and they all shared concerned looks. He dropped the wagon handle, walking forwards. He froze at the base of a tree, and his eyes flickered upwards, until he was staring into the leaves. 

Up at the very top of the tree was a child, crying as quietly as they could so as not to be heard. Virgil didn’t bother glancing back as his hands reached up, gripping one of the branches as he hoisted himself into the air. He was at the top of the tree within a matter of seconds, and the children watched in astonishment. He kneeled down next to them, a soft look on his face. They looked up, wiping their eyes as they backed away from the strange man suddenly in front of them. He raised both of his hands non threateningly, his eyes gentle and understanding. When they didn’t say anything he started the conversation, his voice soft and quiet.

“I understand if you don’t trust me. You don’t have to, I know I’m a strange man who just found you when you feel most vulnerable, but if there’s anything I can do to help you feel better, then all you have to do is tell me. Even if that includes getting someone else or me leaving you alone completely. My main concern right now is your safety and comfort.” He explained, and they sniffled, wiping their face with the back of their hand.

“It’s just that-” They hiccupped “My parents don’t understand. I told them I’m nonbinary, and they said that it wasn’t a real thing.” They gasped for air.

“Hey now, breathe.” They hiccuped again, and he reached out hesitantly, not touching them, but showing that he was there to support them if they needed it. “Here, can you copy my breathing? In for four” He demonstrated “Hold for 7” He waited “Out for 8. Can you do that?” He asked, and they nodded. He led them through it, reassuring them when they messed up, and once they were breathing somewhat regularly he let them continue.

“They said that there were only two genders, and that if I wanted to say otherwise I could just leave. All of my stuff is inside, but there’s no way I can get it.” Tears welled up in their eyes “I’m all alone.” They said, and they broke down again. Virgil reached out, and when they didn’t protest he gently pulled them into an embrace.

“Well there a few untrue things there.” He said calmly “First, your parents are wrong, and you are never too young to know your own identity.” They sniffled “And secondly, you aren’t alone. I know this may seem strange, but you are always welcome to come and stay with me for as long as you’d like. You aren’t obligated to, and I completely understand if you turn the offer down, but can I at least first bring you out of this tree?” He asked, and they nodded, still hesitant but at least willing to be safely brought down. That’s when they saw the other four children, smiling brightly at them.

“Yeah, you’re not the first one. If you came, you’d be the fourth to join us, none of our parents were very accepting, but you’d be safe with him.” Liam explained.

“You’re not forced to though. If you don’t want to, no one is going to make you do something you don’t want to.” Lillith said, and they looked around, to the welcoming faces of the children and the strange man who helped them, and they nodded.

“I think I’d like that.” They said softly, and they rode the rest of the way home in the wagon. Virgil gave them all the candy he had gotten (he was planning on spreading it evenly between them anyways, so it’s not like he lost anything). They went home, Virgil showing them the rooms left - there were still around 20 bedrooms that could be used, so it’s not like they were running out of options - and once they had chosen one they all hung out together, watching movies and eating candy and just generally having fun together. It was a strange family, no doubt, but it was one that they  _ chose,  _ and none of them would give it up for the world. 

~A few weeks later~

Now that they were all growing familiar with each other, they had all come at separate times asking, hesitantly as ever, if he would sign official adoption papers. He was euphoric each time he was asked, and happily agreed. Adara heard the first person ask and went to the library, grabbing a book that had the papers in it, so all they had to do was use a copy machine and they’d be set. Once everyone had asked they started printing, and Virgil had never been so happy to sign something in his life. He sent the papers in, and after another week had passed they came back with approval. The kids even decided to change their names, since none of them wanted to be associated with their old families anymore, so now there were six people with the last name of Storm - which, keep in mind, had only come into existence due to a child running from their parents. 

Virgil was out one day, surveying the city in costume to see if there was anyone knew he had to talk to. He had taken a bit of a new approach now, instead of immediately attacking them, he would warn them that they had to change their ways, which, just an encounter with him was usually terrifying enough to get the job done. He’d only had to follow through once, but right now he hadn’t heard of anyone new that he hadn’t warned yet. He was spying around, for once not bothering to become invisible, and then there was someone next to him and he was ready to attack in an instant. He paused when he saw it was Morality, with no one by his side. 

“Hey, there.” He said uncertainly, and Anxiety just nodded, relaxing slightly, but still keeping a defensive form. “Look, I know you and I haven’t been on the best of terms for, well, ever. But” He sighed “I kinda quit that team. They had lost sight of our  _ original  _ mission which was just to stop everyday crimes and help make the world safer. Now they’re  _ kinda  _ obsessed with you.” He said, and Anxiety nodded.

“Can’t argue with that. Plus they were forcing you to stay silent despite you being the only one with actual worthwhile opinions.” He said casually, and Morality blinked at him, surprised. He had noticed too?

“Well it’s gotten to the point that they were legitimately planning to assassinate you. They were going to set someone up that you went into a business meeting with, making it seem like that person was going to attack you, and then snipe you or something similar.” He explained nervously, and his eyes narrowed.

“You mean that they were going to set someone up to get seriously hurt, possibly even killed, just so they could get me?” Anxiety asked incredulously. They knew firsthand that he did not respond well when attacked. Morality nodded shamefully.

“I went off on them, first time I’ve lost my temper since I was a teen.” He said nervously “And then I quit. I wanted to go back to my original mission, but, well” He bit his lip “You’re the only one doing actual good that I know.” He said, waiting for a scoff or for him to be thrown off the roof for saying something so outrageous. Instead Anxiety stood in shock, any negative stance completely dissolved.

“You...” He looked up at the hero, eyes wide “You came to  _ me  _ for help? In doing  _ good?”  _ He asked, but it wasn’t incredulous, it wasn’t sarcastic. It was something that Morality had never heard before from the so-called villain. It was shock, and fear, and awe, and so many emotions swirled together into a few words. He didn’t just hear it, he felt it, and it was more painful than any other mix of emotions he’s felt.

“Yeah.” He said anxiously, and wasn’t  _ that  _ ironic. But he remained in his notion, and within a few minutes he was receiving tips on surveying, how to notice if something’s wrong, how to get there safely and without escalating the situation. The best way to survey the city, all the places that had the highest crime rates, which areas were too dangerous to go alone - and finally, that he was available any time he wanted help, if a situation was ever too dangerous for him alone, if there was ever anything he needed help with while in costume, that he’d be there. They exchanged understanding smiles, and they parted ways. Anxiety went back to his home, about to change back, when he realized he wasn’t invisible again. How did he notice? Well...

“It’s Anxiety!” Kennedy shouted, fearful. Liam ran outside, the other children behind him.

“Hey, our dad may be rich, but that doesn’t mean he’s corrupt! Leave him alone!” He shouted, and Adara facepalmed. He looked at them, letting out a sigh.

“Well, this was a mistake. I  _ gotta  _ be more careful.” He muttered to himself, and they looked up at him, confused. He gave a weak smile, pulling off his mask. “Surprise. I wanted to tell you in a better way, but um...

“Dad, you absolute idiot. It took me  _ 8 years  _ to find out and that was only through snooping, and yet you accidentally reveal it to them in a few months? I think you’re losing your touch.” Adara said, walking forwards.

“Wait, you knew?” Mara asked, and she nodded.

“Yeah, I found out at the beginning of the school year. Apparently that time I got thrown in the closet?” They all winced in remembrance “He was in the middle of a fight with the supposed heroes. Which he promptly left just to come save me.” She said, smiling at the ridiculousness of it. He shook his head, his smile mirroring her own.

“Well that’s news.” Lillith said, and they all nodded.

“But the heroes are pretty horrible people. So how come you’re considered a villain for fighting them?” Kennedy asked, and he shrugged.

“That’s life I guess.” He said, and Mara stared at him.

“How did I not see it sooner? You guys have all the same powers, your wings look the same. It couldn’t have been more obvious!” Mara exclaimed, and he shrugged again.

“I mean, it could’ve. My personality doesn’t exactly match up with what most people think of when they hear “Anxiety”. Though you guys seem to be the exception on that.” He said casually, and they all shared understanding glances. No  _ wonder  _ he had been so emotional at the costume store, no  _ wonder  _ Adara had tensed up when they heard what costume Liam chose. “And to be fair not all of the heroes are horrible. Morality actual applies to his namesake, and he actually just broke off from the hero group since they are really more focused on me than any crimes now. That’s why I was out a bit longer than usual.” He explained, and Adara nodded, somewhat surprised by the new information, but she could understand why.

“Yeah. He’s healed me quite a few times. That’s how the broken ribs disappeared overnight. And he helped me when they kidnapped me.” She said casually, and the all froze.

“They did  _ what?!”  _ They all shouted, and she winced, a sheepish smile on her face.

“Oh yeah, did I forget to tell you guys about that?” She thought about it “Actually, wait, nevermind. They kidnapped me to use me as leverage so he’d reveal his identity to everyone. If I told about being kidnapped then obviously I’d have to tell you  _ why,  _ and I wasn’t spreading that secret readily.” She explained, and they calmed slightly, though they still seemed wary. Virgil changed to a shadow and back again in the blink of an eye, just so he was in his regular clothes again. No use of someone seeing him in costume talking to a bunch of children, that would go south pretty quickly. 

“Let’s head inside. We probably have a lot to discuss.”

And if, in the following weeks, a local veterinary clinic got sudden funding boosts and popularity to the umpth degree, then no one really batted an eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to clarify - since I'm not sure if I did in the next chapter(s?) or not - Virgil goes and retrieves Kennedy's stuff at one point and gives it to them. You can imagine that as you will.


	10. A Terrible Fight

“Let’s end this.” Princey shouted, held in the air by a wall of flames. Anxiety was standing in the street, the only thing keeping him from flying into the air to attack being that all of his children were there, and he  _ couldn’t  _ just leave them to be bombarded by flames. Adara was ready to make a force-field as soon as necessary, and each of the children had their own weapons for self-defense. Virgil had helped them pick them out the day after they found out he was Anxiety, since they were likely to be attacked for their connection to him.

Princey was tired and broken. He wanted his friend back, but he couldn’t let Anxiety roam the streets freely. To get his friend back he had to give up on chasing the villain down, but if he got rid of the villain there would be nothing to give up, no one to put in danger by choosing his own mental health and friendship over the safety of a city. Logic was back making plans, but a different type. Plans to make it up to Patton, to apologize for their horrible actions. He had lied, claiming he was getting fresh air, and sought out Anxiety. Virgil saw him coming and had flashed into shadow and back into costume before Princey could notice him, and now they were about to fight. Anxiety  _ hated  _ that the children had to be involved in it, but there was no way to safely get them home. Unless-

“Adara” Anxiety turned to face his daughter “Do you think you might be able to teleport them home?” He asked, worry clear on his face.

“I can.” She said, glancing around at them “But I won’t. We’re in this together, we’re  _ not  _ just leaving you to face him alone.” She said, and Anxiety glanced to the others.

“We’re with you.” Liam said, a smile on his face as he held up his commas.

“No way we’re missing out on this.” Mara said, her sword gleaming in the sunlight.

“I think this will be interesting.” Kennedy spoke up, and they all turned to Lillith.

“Let’s whoop his ass!” She shouted, and they let out a surprised laugh, before turning back to the “hero”.

“You can’t escape this.” Princey called down, and Anxiety let out a deep breath, focusing on the reality around them. Princey saw his flames disappear, nothing holding him in the air, and he began to fall. The shock of it made his flames  _ actually  _ disappear, and as such he didn’t realize he’d been tricked as he plummeted to the ground. Adara burst into the air, catching him by the collar of his shirt.

“It wouldn’t do to have the death of scum like you on our hands, so sadly I have to keep you from dying.” She said in annoyance, carrying him back to the ground. She threw him on the asphalt, and people screamed as they saw Anxiety in the streets, about to have another battle.

“Give it up! Morality already left, you  _ know  _ you won’t win, so stop trying to make yourself feel better! There’s no point!” He shouted, and all of a sudden the asphalt underneath him was melting, his legs sinking in. It burned and he nearly let out a scream but he remained calm. It solidified around him and Adara rushed forwards, grabbing his hand and teleporting into the air, effectively freeing him as his wings took hold of the air around them. They lowered to the ground and Princey screamed in rage, sending flames to cover them all. Anxiety took the chance to get in the air, knocking the “prince to the ground. The children looked around in wonder as the flames didn’t touch them, and they saw a force-field around Adara, protecting all of them.

“This is the last time!” Princey shouted, some of the desperation he felt making it’s way to his voice. Anxiety sighed. He knew what was happening, but he also knew that within a few minutes Morality would be here. It was right around the time he did his usual surveys, and they were walking down Main Street in the center of the city. 

“Just give it a rest! You’re not just attacking me, which I get, but you’re attacking five innocent children!” He shouted, and pain flashed in the hero’s eyes. He lashed out, holding his hands in the air as he was raised again by flames, and suddenly Anxiety felt the air being slowly pulled out of his lungs.  _ Shit, I forgot about this power.  _ He lowered himself to the ground, choking and gasping for air. 

“No!” Adara shouted, running forwards, but there was nothing they could do. She couldn’t force the air back into his lungs, not when it was being pulled like she would pull an apple into the air.

“Leave him  _ alone!”  _ Mara screamed, running forwards with her sword raised in the air.

“Stop it!” Liam shouted, following after her as he held his commas tighter. 

“You’re killing him!” Kennedy exclaimed, their daggers gleaming in the sun as they chased their friends.

“Stop pretending to be a hero when all you do is hurt people!” Lillith shrieked, nunchucks swinging surprisingly nimbly around her as she joined the fight. 

Anxiety smiled lightly as he gasped uselessly. He knew this was probably the end. He just wished that the kids would make it into good homes, unlike he had. His vision started to fade and he felt his arms giving way beneath him, his knees grinding into the asphalt. He let out a final cough as his eyes fell shut, but when he gasped for air again he felt his lungs filling. His eyes snapped open and he looked up, a light blue shield of energy in front of him, blocking the power of the “hero”. He looked to who was creating it and a surprised smile came to his face as he leapt to his feet. He nodded and he saw a slight smile tug at the hero’s lips, before they turned sternly back to Princey, who was back on the ground, staring in shock. 


	11. Painful Realizations

“Nice to see you again Morality. Might I say, you showed up just in time.” He said kindly, his voice still holding the corruption despite the heroes already knowing who he was. No use having the rest of the world find out just yet. 

“Just in time to keep you from dying.” He responded coldly, staring at his former colleague. Anxiety shook his head.

“Nope, that’s not exactly what I meant, though I do thank you for that.” He said, and he received a confused glance. “I meant in time so that the kids didn’t get hurt or end up on the streets.” He explained, and the look in Morality’s eyes darkened.

“Just go get them. I’ll deal with  _ him.”  _ He said, and Anxiety nodded, a smirk coming to his face.

“As you wish.” He said, taking off easily and placing himself in between the kids and the “hero”. “Alright, I think it’s time you guys backed up a bit, I have no idea what type of fight this is gonna be. For all I know it could just be verbal, or it could be so destructive that the buildings start crumbling around us. Just stay behind me.” He explained, glancing back at them. They shared a look before nodding, and they finally noticed the corruption to his voice, but they ignored it for the time being.

“Morality?” Princey asked, his eyes wide and pained. 

“You need to stop! I thought  _ maybe  _ I could make you see reason, but I see you’re too stuck in the past to pay attention!” Anxiety winced as he saw news reporters nearby, the giant screens on the skyscrapers showing a close-up of their fight. No one liked having their most personal moments broadcasted like that. He shared a look with Adara and she nodded, sending an energy blast directly into one of the cameras, and Anxiety did the same with the other two. The screens flickered off.

“Morality, please-” He begged, but the one in blue wasn’t having any of it. 

“No! You’re literally trying to kill someone because you disagree with them! You can’t do that! And yet all this time  _ I’m  _ the one with the bad ideas,  _ I’m  _ the one who needs to shut up! Well I’m  ** _done_ ** being silent!” He shouted, electricity sparking at his fingertips. Anxiety watched in semi-amusement. After all, this could’ve easily been avoided if the heroes had had some sense for once. But at the same time he was slightly worried for Morality, he didn’t want the only one who was actually trying to do good to end up being seen as a villain. 

“Please, just- listen!” Princey begged, and Morality’s eyes twitched.

“Oh, yes, please just listen,  _ for once,  _ as though I haven’t spent my whole life listening to your nonsense!” He shouted back, and Princey took a step forwards, a desperate look in his eyes.

“I know that, and I’m  _ sorry  _ that you had to go through that all this time. But please, listen one last time. That’s all I ask.” He said, and Morality glared at him, but he remained silent. “I know what I’m doing is wrong.” he looked down at his hands in shame. “But- I don’t know what else to do. I’ve lost everything I knew. This is the only thing that remains a constant. And I  _ know  _ I shouldn’t want to, but if the supposed villain of the story was gone, if the thing that appears to be holding me back was defeated, then maybe...” he trailed off, staring at the ground “Maybe it could have a happy ending. Maybe everything could play out like a book or story, where the bad guy loses and everything gets better.” Morality’s glare lessened somewhat, sympathy lurking in his eyes, but the anger hadn’t left, simply dulled.

“You can’t treat life like a fairytale.” Adara said simply, and he looked up in surprise, seeming to have forgotten they were there. But instead of getting angry, he just looked broken. He hung his head in acceptance.

“I know that. Because when you do that, everything that doesn’t fit into place is suddenly an obstacle, something that needs to be done away with. And you quickly find that some of those things end up being heroism,” He shook his head in shame “reason,” He glanced back, as if expecting Logic to show up and scold him “And morals.” His eyes flickered up to Morality, but they quickly fell again. “I’m sorry. I know there’s probably nothing I can do to make it up to you, to  _ any  _ of you” He glanced at Anxiety, and to the kids still waiting in the street, ready to defend themselves at any moment. “So please, just, don’t drag it out. Say what you need to say, do what you need to do, just don’t make it take any longer than it has to.” He said, almost begging, as though he were expecting them to come over and hurt him, to beat him up in retaliation and he was  _ fine  _ with it, so long as they didn’t drag it out needlessly. Anxiety saw a bit of himself in him, and suddenly he knew why everyone hated him so much. 

He’s broken. He’s not ashamed to admit that. He broke at a young age and was tossed around carelessly, passed from hand to hand, but none of them were careful with him. Their tight grips shattered him more, their oblivious passing scattering his pieces far and wide. And what happens when you break something, something fragile into a million little pieces that you leave scattered around? They become sharp. Tiny fragments getting under skin, cutting you open before you even realize it. Hurting you long after you’ve forgotten about what you broke, leaving you wondering why there was glass there, why you got hurt. Wondering what hurt you. Wondering what broke. And that’s the key there. You don’t end up wondering what  _ you  _ broke. You don’t think about what  _ you  _ did that left sharp fragments all over, harming you and those you care about with a simple touch. You just think about the pain and the broken pieces and wonder  _ why  _ and  _ what happened  _ and never what  _ you  _ did. 

Adara looked over in worry as Anxiety’s legs shook. He didn’t want to hurt anymore. He had grown over the past few months, he had changed. He wasn’t hurting people as much as he used to, he was using his leverage and past to make sure he didn’t have to. He was using his connections to bring those who were helpless better lives. He was teaching those that had almost been broken by the world that sometimes you didn’t have to break all the way. Sometimes someone was there to pick you up. And his heart was beating in his chest as he realized that sometimes someone picks you up long after you’ve been broken, and despite that pain and danger they start to carefully put the pieces back together. And sometimes, it came from the people you would never expect. From the kids who were thrown out or left their homes, from the daughter that you saved from a destroyed home, from the hero that had fought you for so long, from the prince that still wanted you dead a few minutes prior. From someone else’s self-realization that hit all too close to home. 

He didn’t want to hurt anymore.


	12. Conversations

A loud  ** _boom _ ** echoed throughout the street and a blurry figure skidded to a halt on the asphalt. They looked shakily back at their wings, they rarely used them, to the point that no one even knew they had them. The skeletal look had freaked out their parents when they first discovered them, and they kept them hidden almost 24/7 ever since. Feathers hung from the end and membrane stretched over the very top, holding them together. Despite their look, they functioned perfectly fine, but they were rarely used, making it harder to control whenever they flew. They glared at the prince, standing across from Anxiety, in between the two heroes. Anxiety smirked, burying his emotions for the sake of everyone involved for the moment.

“Logic, long time no see.” His smirk changed to a genuinely impressed smile, something that none of the heroes had ever seen before. No sarcasm, no anger, no negativity in any way, only genuine surprise and slight pride. “I’ve got to say, those are some cool wings.” When Logic glared he held up his hands in defense “No, honestly, I’m not teasing you. Those are  _ awesome!”  _ He exclaimed, slight jealousy in his eyes. He was fine with his own, strong and powerful, easy to work with and no reason to hide. The black color was fine by him as well, but  _ damn  _ if he didn’t want to have those, even if just for a day. The aesthetic was perfect, if nothing else. Logic opted to ignore him.

“Alright, I see our bickering has gone further than previously thought.” He said harshly to the prince, before turning with a lighter look towards Morality. “I apologize for my rash actions previous. Nothing I could say would be able to excuse what I’ve done or said to you in the past, and for that I am sorry.” He said calmly, but Morality blinked in shock. Logic had a terribly difficult time admitting he was wrong, and getting an actual apology from him that wasn’t forced or stuttered was unprecedented. He nodded, unable to say anything. Both of them had been surprisingly mature when talking to him, they had accepted the consequences of their actions, and they had understood that just because they apologized they weren’t entitled to his forgiveness. He felt like a proud parent, and a slight smile came to his face.

“While I can’t say I’m happy with your actions,” He said, looking between them. They both bowed their heads in acknowledgment “I forgive you.” He said gently, and they both looked up in shock. 

“But we were horrible to you!” Princey cried out before he could stop himself. Logic just nodded, too surprised to say anything for once.

“I acknowledge that.” He stated calmly “However we can move past that, so long as you prove to me that you’ve actually changed.” He said, and they nodded eagerly.

“Eh, I forgive you too.” Anxiety said, and their eyes snapped over to him. They seemed equally - if not more - stunned that he would even consider forgiving them after their actions towards him. “My life was hell before you guys stepped in, don’t give yourselves too much credit. Hell, you actually made it better in a way.” He said with a smile, but it quickly slid off his face. “However,  _ they’re  _ to say whether or not you’re forgiven for how you acted towards them.” He said, nodding to the kids.

“I mean, you made me discover I have powers,  _ and  _ wings, so  _ I  _ forgive you.” Adara said pointedly, and she looked to the others.

“Well, you did nothing personally against us...” Mara trailed off.

“As long as you can work on being an actual hero then I’m cool with you.” Liam said, shrugging.

“Eh, whatever, me too.” Kennedy said, they didn’t have much part in any of the hero business, they had just gotten roped into it.

“If you attack as again, you’re dead.” Lillith said coldly. Her face quickly shifted from a death-glare to a bright smile “But until then you’re fine.” She said happily, and they all shared a brief smile.

Afterwards the whole city was in shock as the heroes and villain began to work together, and while some saw it as betrayal on the heroes’ part, the majority of them saw it as Anxiety turning over a new leaf. Not many people had witnessed the events of that day, and even those who were there had turned a blind eye when they saw the emotional moment, opting to wait until the news came out rather than listening in to heartfelt apologies and warm moments. No one batted an eye when Virgil Storm, Patton Foster, Logan Brooks, and Roman Prince became close friends, after all, those who were well known usually ended up being friends with each other, so it wasn’t a stretch to believe they had met doing business in some form or another. They had learned that there wasn’t some magical “happily-ever-after”, but they were doing their best to make sure that the city was safe, happy, and lively, and that was good enough for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we have finally reached the end! This one was quite a bit longer than the first one (which was originally gonna be a stand alone story, and you can see how that turned out) but don't worry! I have plans for a third installment in the series, though it might be a while before I post that. Hope you enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, I know this chapter was brief, but the others will be longer, I promise


End file.
